Nanotube Tunneling as a Consequence of Probable Discrete Trajectories

Authors:

D. Robinson

Affilation:

NASA Glenn Research Center, US

Pages:

77 - 80

Keywords:

nanotube, tunneling, discrete, trajectory, charge

Abstract:

It has been recently reported that the electrical charge in a semiconductive carbon nanotube is not evenly distributed, but is divided into charge "islands [1,2]." A clear understanding of tunneling phenomena can be useful to elucidate the mechanism for electrical conduction in nanotubes. This paper represents the first attempt to shed light on the aforementioned phenomenon through viewing tunneling as a natural consequence of "discrete trajectories." The relevance of this analysis is that it may provide further insight into the higher rate of tunneling processes, which makes tunneling devices attractive [3]. In a situation involving particles impinging on a classically impenetrable barrier, the result of quantum mechanics that the probability of detecting transmitted particles falls off exponentially is derived without wave theory. This paper should provide a basis for calculating the charge profile over the length of the tube so that nanoscale devices' conductive properties may be fully exploited.